Exploring the intersection of life, live music and the business of online communities.

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The All Powerful Comment Box

Sometimes I find myself enjoying the fan comments more than the actual concert review itself. No offense to my fellow concert reviewers. But often, in just a few words, what a fan types into that little All Powerful Comment Box will express succinctly, honestly and with great zest how much the show meant to them, or how much they’re looking forward to a show that’s being previewed.

And when I read those few–but oh so powerful–words in the string of comments following the original article, I buzz with pleasure and treasure that emotional moment of fan disclosure. Because it moves me so much and gives me valuable insight into a live performance that the review just didn’t allow or capture.

So here are some recent comments posted on Greg Kot’s Turn It Up Tribune blog that spurred me to finally blog about this topic. Every Friday Kot features the weekend’s “must-see” shows and this past Friday, he listed Throbbing Gristle among others. I’ve never seen Throbbing Gristle live before, but just reading these comments listed by five individual fans makes me want to see the band live.

I have been living for this Throbbing Gristle show.

This Throbbing Gristle show is something I never even dared dream.

I just have to say that the TG show was absolutely magnificent. A moving yet fun-filled evening!

I think I am now living *because of* that Throbbing Gristle show.

Kim E.–did you see the early show, the late show, or both shows? I liked the ambient soundtrack work of the early show, but the late show’s career overview was a more engaging experience by far.

Those are some highly personal and deeply emotional expressions.

And each time I read them I wonder:

Have you ever felt the emotional electricity of the All Powerful Comment Box and left a response to concert review? How’d it make you feel when you clicked the submit button and saw your words appear on the screen in front of you? And what made you want to do it?